Marking 10 Years since the Irish Bank Guarantee at the Royal Irish Academy

Co-investigator Dr Muiris MacCarthaigh and the Apologies project team hosted an event at the Royal Irish Academy to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Irish government’s guarantee of the liabilities of all domestic banks – a controversial decision that turned private debt into sovereign debt and which had enormous implications for Irish economic, political and social life.

The team was delighted to be joined by Simon Carswell of The Irish Times, speaking on ‘The Banking Crisis 10 Years On: What Lessons have been Learned?’ and Annmarie O’Connor of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, who gave a talk on ‘Brokering Between Borrowers and Banks to Resolve Household Debt: Reflections From the Last 10 Years.’ Co-investigator Dr Anna Bryson introduced the event and provided an overview of the project, Principal Investigator Prof Kieran McEvoy spoke on the role of apologies in relation to the conflict in and about Northern Ireland and Dr Muiris MacCarthaigh gave a presentation on ‘Public Perspectives on Bank Apologies for the Crisis.’

The team was extremely pleased to welcome an engaged and enthusiastic audience, whose thought-provoking questions and comments have given us much food for thought as the project progresses.

The team launched three research reports to accompany the event. Muiris MacCarthaigh’s report on The Irish Banking Crisis can be accessed here, Prof Shadd Maruna’s report on Public Apologies and the Banking Crisis in Ireland: Summary Results of a Public Opinion Survey can be accessed here, and Emma Catterall and Prof Anne-Marie McAlinden’s report on Apologies and Institutional Child Abuse can be accessed here. The team has authored a series of related blogs, which can be accessed in the Blogs section of our website.